Jurors find Mendocino Coast man guilty in campground beating death

A Mendocino County Superior Court jury Thursday found Glenn Hughes of Fort Bragg guilty of second-degree murder in the 2011 beating death of a friend while both were staying in a coast campground.

Victim Jose Madrid, 45, was severely beaten and knocked unconscious during a New Year's Eve, 2011, encounter at the Hidden Pines Campground south of Fort Bragg.

Hughes, 52, also was found guilty by the jury of assault with force, and findings of three prior felony convictions. Hughes faces a maximum sentence of 19 years to life in state prison.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Hubley prosecuted the case. He said jurors sent a strong message by returning the murder verdict against Hughes, who at trial claimed he was drunk and had no memory of his attack on Madrid.

Hubley on opening day of the trial Jan. 24 played for jurors a recording of a frantic 9-1-1 call to police from a friend of Madrid. The woman was injured while trying to pull Hughes off of the victim during the fatal beating.

Hubley said he jury in returning its verdict clearly found that Hughes "?even though he was drunk, was responsible for his conduct, and that alcohol was not an excuse for his rage and the killing of Mr. Madrid."

Hughes took the witness stand in his own defense at the end of his trial, testifying that he was so drunk he didn't remember anything about the night Madrid was beaten to death. "Total blackout," he told jurors.

Hubley said jurors did an "excellent job in weighing the evidence, and returning an appropriate verdict in this case."

Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman presided over the trial. She scheduled sentencing of Hughes for March 1.